Tread carefully on reforms to UNC system

In charting the direction in which North Carolina's state universities move during the next five years, it is vital to remember that education and vocational training are not the same thing.

A 31-member Advisory Committee on Strategic Directions is gathering information to be used in devising the plan. Among its members are Jack Cecil, president of Biltmore Farms, and Ken Peacock, chancellor of Appalachian State University.

"The public is demanding more accountability as tuition rises and college completion lags," Jane Stancill wrote in the Raleigh News & Observer. "Student loan debt has surpassed credit card debt in the United States. A 2012 study from Rutgers University reported that slightly more than half of recent college graduates had full-time jobs and only four in 10 said their current job required a four-year degree."

The committee "will help assess ? current and future workforce needs and recommend degree attainment goals and strategies that are responsive to those needs and changing demographics," according to the statement announcing the committee's formation.

"I don't think we can afford to not only spend the money but charge the money to students excessively and they can't get a job," said Fred Eshelman, a Wilmington pharmaceutical executive who is on the committee and is gathering data for it. "Nobody's going to be happy."

Such statements bother some people. Alanna Davis of the North Carolina Student Power Union said her group fears business leaders want education geared to corporate interests, promoting business and sciences while ignoring liberal arts and the humanities.

Of particular concern is the presence on the committee of Art Pope, whose think tanks have called for deep cuts in university budgets. "Our demand is instituting a concrete forum with opportunities to give feedback. Our one concrete demand is the removal of Art Pope," Davis said.

"Everyone wants a job when they get out of college," said Kevin Kimball, the only university student on the committee. "At the same time, I don't think students believe the sole object of a university education is employment."

A good education is not just about learning how to do a job. Many employers can teach that. An educated person is one who can think critically, solve problems and communicate with others. Such people have the ability to adapt as the job market changes.

"My business friends, interestingly, are more and more saying, 'Please, just give me a liberal arts student. I can train the student. I can get the student going in my job ? But I want somebody to think and write and speak and not sound like a dunderhead,'' said Hunter Rawlings, president of the Association of American Universities.

Others cite the benefits to society of having an educated workforce. "It just needs to be said that there's other things about getting a college degree that are good other than getting a job," said UNC-Chapel Hll Chancellor Holden Thorp.

"People with college degrees are better citizens, they're healthier, they're better prepared to engage in the world, they're better parents, they're better neighbors, they're better people to go to church with. And that's something that has been really important to this state and this country for a long, long time."

No one denies the importance of universities graduating people who can get a job, but that should not detract from the importance of seeing that they have an education.

"Education is crucial to our culture and our democracy, not just our economy," said Peter Hans, chairman of the UNC Board of Governors. "But it isn't an either/or choice. We can and should do both."

Yes we should.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

Tread carefully on reforms to UNC system

In charting the direction in which North Carolina's state universities move during the next five years, it is vital to remember that education and vocational training are not the same thing.